California Trip

We left last Monday for Anaheim and drove the whole way in one day. With a bit of junk food and a DVD player, the drive was pretty good.

We stayed at a hotel called Hilton Homewood Suites. It was about a mile from Disneyland. With 4 kids, we needed a larger hotel room than we've had in the past. We had two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, and kitchen. We loved the hotel.

The first night after we went to bed, our bed started moving. Dan said, "Caleb, stop boucing on our bed." When he realized Caleb was asleep, he started saying, "Rachel, stop it!". After a few seconds he realized it wasn't the kids. It was an earthquake. I guess it was a 5.7. Nobody in California even gives it a second thought. But we aren't quite as used to earthquakes. Our kids were disappointed that they slept through it.

We got up and went to Disneyland on Tuesday. Because of my leg issues, I rented an electric wheelchair. My leg is doing very well, and I am walking very well. But I am still not able to walk around and stand in line all day. The good thing was that it got us on most of the rides much faster than usual. We were able to wait ten minutes for one ride that had a 65 minute wait. I would much rather have a normal leg though. We stayed clear until the fireworks ended at about 10:00. Anna and Alex were very tired and crabby by the time we got back to our hotel. We had a lot of fun. Next time we go, we'll go in January when its not so crowded. Anna loved "Its a small world". Alex's favorite was "Dumbo". Rachel loved "Splash Mountain". I'm not sure what Caleb's favorite was.

On Wednesday, we got up and went to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. The kids especially liked the petting zoo.

Thursday, we went on a harbor tour in San Diego. The kids liked it at first, but were a little bored by the end of the ride. If we do this again, we'll try to go during whale watching season, so its a little more exciting.

We spent the rest of the day Thursday and Friday at the beach. We rented a little motel room on the beach. The location was perfect. We were able to walk to the beach from our room. The room was a little cramped, but it was way worth it for the location.

When we first saw the ocean, Alex said, "Mom, its too big for me!". He was a bit scared. He went in the water a little bit, but mostly played in the sand. The older three kids had a blast in the water. Rachel especially.

On Friday we rented a couple of boogie boards (or body boards). Rachel really took to it. She spent hours boarding in the waves. She is quite an adventurer. It didn't bother her if a wave washed over her head. Caleb liked it until he got water up his nose. I thought it was fun too. However, I don't really like waves washing over my head either. I guess I'm a chicken. So Rachel and Dan spent the most time on the boards. I thought it was funny when I was boarding with Rachel. She was instructing me, and saying things like, "Mom, you gotta catch that wave". I would highly recommed renting some boards, if your kids are old enough and adventurous enough.

The drive home was another all-in-one-day drive. It was pretty good until we hit road construction in Lehi. Then we inched along for a half an hour. We made it home, and had a great trip.

My sister Leslie keeps asking me when I'm gonna update my blog with the trip pics. So, here it is Leslie. :)